A group of US whistleblowers and activists has present Snowden
with a Sam Adams Award for ‘Integrity in Intelligence’ in Moscow
on Wednesday.
“The irony is that the US has abandoned the rule of law,”
Drake, who also revealed NSA secrets in the past, said of
Snowden’s leaks. “They’ve unchained itself from their own
constitution – the mechanism by which we govern ourselves. And
when you ban the real law and use a secret law and secret
interpretations of law, we’re in a whole new ball game. It’s a
Pandora’s Box.”

Snowden “had to escape the US to ensure any chance of
freedom,” Drake said. “And it wasn’t his plan to end up
here. It was the US, who made him stateless by revoking his
passport. And Russia – to its credit – actually recognized the
international law and granted him political asylum.”

The NSA whistleblower is currently staying at an undisclosed
location In Russia, reportedly under heavy security. The
whistleblowers, who had the chance to meet with him, say that
Snowden has no regrets about the path he has chosen.

Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern has called Snowden “an
extraordinary person,” who has “made his peace” with
what he did.

“He’s convinced that what he did was right. He has no regrets.
And he’s willing to face whatever the future holds for him,”
McGovern said.

Coleen Rowley, a former FBI agent and whistleblower, noted that
Snowden was “remarkably centered,” while Jesselyn Radack,
of the Government Accountability Project, described him as
“brilliant, smart, funny and very engaged.”

“He looked great,” Radack said.

McGovern said that Snowden already knew that he was going to
receive the award, and the problem was getting it to him. The
award is “a candlestick holder for someone, who has shone
bright light into dark corners,” McGovern said.

“The reception we’ve got [from Snowden] was just so
heartwarming,” he said. Snowden is “a person who now
realizes that he has very senior people – some of the ostracized…
but very senior people, who speak for a lot of people still
within those organizations that admire greatly what Edward
Snowden has done and, hopefully, will summon the courage to
follow his example.”

Despite the fact that “it’s a dangerous time for
whistleblowers in the US,” Snowden’s revelations have had a
big effect as “courage is contagious,” Radack said.

“We have more and more whistleblowers coming to the Government
Accountability Project than we have had before,” she said.
“I really thing [Snowden] has had a wonderful effect [on] the
US and the world.”

The whistleblowers also commented to RT on the recent statement
by the head of Britain’s MI5 secret service, Andrew Parker, who
said that actions of whistleblowers harm security and help
terrorist organizations.

Radack rejected Parker’s claims, saying: “We hear this in
every single whistleblower case that there’s going to be blood on
people’s hands and it has damaged security,” but there has been
“no demonstrative evidence” of that.

“It’s exactly the opposite,” said Rowley. “There’s
quite a lot of evidence building now that violations of the law
hurt security. And lack of sharing of information… That’s
actually the lesson of 9/11. It was a lack of sharing of
information not only between agencies, but with the public, that
enabled the 9/11 attacks. Everyone has forgotten that.”

McGovern said that Parker’s comments were “a political
statement that exaggerates danger for political purposes.”

Edward Snowden’s father, Lon, has also arrived in the Russian
capital, expressing hope that he’ll soon see his son for the
first time since Russia granted him asylum in August.

The Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence award has
been presented annually since 2002 to an intelligence
professional who has taken a stand for integrity and ethics. The
prize is named after Samuel A. Adams, a CIA whistleblower during
the Vietnam War.

Drake, Radack, WikiLeaks and Julian Assange have been among the
recipients of the award in recent years.

Snowden’s whistleblowing activities also won him a nomination for
the European Union’s Sakharov Prize, which is given to
individuals or organizations who have dedicated themselves to the
defense of human rights and freedom of thought.